From the village of Naichanpur, about three hours from Kolkata, Ashok Dinda was spotted early by Atal Dev Burman, a coach, after bowling a few overs in the nets. Dinda, who said he could not afford staying back, was taken in by the coach and soon received a basic contract with Kalighat club and a stint with the Australian Institute of Sport. He made his first-class debut for Bengal in 2005, and impressed many with his consistent pace, generated from an exaggerated leap into his delivery stride.

Despite being a late addition to the Kolkata Knight Riders' squad for the inaugural IPL season in 2008, Dinda took nine wickets in 13 games at an economy rate of 6.66. Subsequently, he earned a spot in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy, which by his own admission, took him by surprise. One year later, he made his T20I debut against Sri Lanka. His ODI debut was in 2010 when he was selected for the ODI and T20 squads for the tour of Zimbabwe after the selectors decided to rest several senior players.

In between his sporadic appearances for the national side, Dinda was signed by Pune Warriors in 2012 from Delhi Daredevils. During England's tour to India later that year, Dinda was called up as cover for the injured Umesh Yadav, but he still yearns for his Test cap. Dinda, who last played for India in 2013, was selected in the 2015 World Cup probables list but did not make the final cut. Dinda switched franchises again when he was bought for INR 50 lakhs (75000 USD) by Rising Pune Supergiants after being released by Royal Challengers Bangalore. ESPNcricinfo

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